Arkadios, Yuri, Urses, Aden, Volodar, & Hamelin
Arkadios had decided, after their break, to do an inventory of the armoury and had been pleasantly surprised to find it was well stocked. There were belts of 7.62mm rounds for the machine -guns. Ten Makarios C94 Pistols, and six of the Fokaides-Harris self-loading rifles with the big 19 round drum magazines. A good gun, if somewhat prone to jamming, particularly in the mud and dirt of a typical battlefield... but an airship was not a typical battlefield.
He had also been pleasantly surprised to discover the military hadn't removed the old cabins meaning they had 26 rooms with bunk beds which was good considering they would probably be spending at least one night aboard. He lifted one of the rifles up, giving it a quick examination. It looked like it had come straight off the production line without a dent to the woodwork or scratch on the metal.
Lieutenant Kasrikos was sighting one of the rifles, angling it downwards as he checked the action. "Captain, I do not know if we can trust the civilian contingent aboard. Clearly the man at the helm has some experience in combat. That coupled with his arrogance and agitation is a recipe for disaster" Kariskos mused, closing the action on an empty chamber, he clearly did not have much experience with the weapon.
"I would tend to agree," Arkadios nodded, "Though at this stage we need their expertise if we are to keep this ship aloft. I understand there is a dark art to buoyancy that takes years to master," he paused, "Your thoughts on the gold reserve? I held my tongue mostly as it is a useful endeavor for this ship. I suppose better to overpay these scoundrels than let the gold fall to the enemy."
Yuri rocked his head back and forth, a small wince spread across his mouth, "I don't know if I trust the noblewoman, but she makes a compelling argument: we are the best option for securing it. If she, or anyone else, tries to steal from the crown, we can just put them into prison at Grendell when we drop them off." He seemed a bit sour at the concept.
The comms officer continued, "I don't know who she's hiding from, but it may be of concern, she might be communalist aligned."
Aden was poring over the inventory of a particular shelf. Neat typed tallies of ammo cans were arrayed on a clipboard which he read while ambling over.
“Trust or not,” the sniper commented. “She seems to have the ear of the civilians….and the ones who can pilot this ship.”
Arkadios paused, raising an eyebrow as he set the rifle back on the rack, "She is a woman who knows the location of the gold reserve. Who says her father took her around the reserve. Who will be recognised and allowed access. I’ve never heard of her family before."
Yuri replied curtly "Captain I imagine that is because she is lying." He paused to consider the situation. "I can think of quite a few groups who would be eyeing up the reserves in times like these. Playing along will be the smoothest option for resolution."
"She is definitely lying, but she's confident that she can convince the guards at the reserve to hand over the gold," Arkadios mused, "Why? She can't take it by force and hasn't tried to convince us to either. Her belief that she can get it peacefully seems genuine."
Urses had remained quiet so far, preferring to listen to the discussion pan out before making up his mind on anything. Between the discussion on the Gondola and now, the Favisian medic had stayed out of anything close to command decisions in favour of making rounds of the makeshift crew, checking for injuries that required immediate attention before trouble found them again. He'd actually been on his way to suggest turning one of the unused cabins into an ad-hoc medical bay should the need arise when he'd stumbled into the current discussion.
"Maybe she's not completely lying? About who she is, sure, but maybe not about knowing people at the reserve. It'd make her confidence in her plan a little less unfounded, at the very least."
"I suspect that her identity is the lie," Arkadios agreed, "Which then begs the question of who she is," he gave a small chuckle, "Which I imagine we will find out at the reserve. So I suggest we play nice with her for now."
The medic shrugs at this. "Not much else we can do. It's not like we have a solid reason to start making accusations, and at least she's not as eager to abandon the whole continent like that damn Mainer. I might be from working-class roots, but even I have a sense of duty to my King and Country..."
Yuri gave a firm nod at that, putting the rifle back in the locker "It'll do to test her assertion, worst case she gets detained and we continue empty handed down a few days' travel. I'll try to get a message ahead to them." There was a short pause as he looked to the closed armory door. "Should we disarm the civilians?"
"The girl is an oddity, and something about her is familiar to me," Volodar added, as he shouldered and sighted one of the rifles to feel the balance. "I have a cautious faith in her plot. Disarming the civilians, however, could prove problematic, but I support the measure."
“I think disarming is rather expected at this point.” Aden hung up the clipboard and hefted one of the C94 pistols; heavier than his own sidearm. “I don’t like the helmsman though. Too idealistic and greedy. He will cause problems.”
"Disarming would be potentially disastrous," Arkadios put in, "We don't have enough people qualified to operate the ship if they don't agree to be disarmed. Save it for when we reach Grendell... but keep an eye on them."
“I think disarming is rather expected at this point.” Aden hung up the clipboard and hefted one of the C94 pistols; heavier than his own sidearm. “I don’t like the helmsman though. Too idealistic and greedy. He will cause problems.”
"Disarming would be potentially disastrous," Arkadios put in, "We don't have enough people qualified to operate the ship if they don't agree to be disarmed. Save it for when we reach Grendell... but keep an eye on them."
Urses sighed but nodded in agreement to Arkadios' assessment. "I've got to agree with the Captain. We're all servicemen, so we have a certain level of trust in each other, but the civilians don't have that trust; in us or each other. Trying to take their means of self-defence might make them lash out and we need to work together... We need to establish a chain of command though, otherwise there'll be too many voices trying to talk over one another and that won't do any of us any good."
"It needs to be done," Arkadios agreed, "But I would suggest we leave it until it becomes clear to the civilians that this disorder won't benefit them, at the moment I believe that Mainer Captain will rally some of the stupider civilians behind them. Wait for them to realise he isn't their salvation from military oppression or whatever nonsense they believe."
“He wants to be the hero,” Aden compared the C94 to the ammo clips neatly tucked away beneath their firearms. “And she’s promising free gold and salvation. Helps she has a pretty face too.”
Adan gave an experimental rack of the pistol and found the mechanism rather staying in how it slammed home.
"And I suppose we shall accept this flippant disregard of any good sense until we pay the peasants and profiteers off?" Volodar grumbled.
Yuri kept a stiff lip as he muttered, "We can always rectify that lack at Grendell too, if any of them try something truly lacking in good reason." He sighed, "I doubt they have spare air crews lying around, but getting some more hands aboard would do a lot to keep things civil."
"If they get out of control, there is always a window to take them back to the ground," Arkadios remarked darkly, "But we'll try to avoid that necessity for now."
Yuri bit his tongue at the idea, holding himself from objecting.
"Aye, that there is," Volodar conceded as he held back a dark chuckle.
“Could always just hang them from the catwalk.” Aden replaced the pistol and its ammo on the rack. The private pulled his scarf slightly tighter as he stepped into the circle. “Assuming we don’t leave behind most of them when they step off to get their gold.”
Urses, for his part, raised an eyebrow in concern. "I'm pretty sure that something in my oaths tells me we should avoid that outcome as much as possible. We can repurpose a passenger cabin as a brig if needs be, so we can avoid executing people unless we're absolutely desperate."
Unslinging his rifle, He sets it down beside him and crosses his arms as he leans on the bulkhead wall. "I recognise that maintaining order is vital, but I am a Medic first and foremost; My utmost priority is making sure we all make it out of this alive and intact."
Yuri looked over to the sharpshooter "We don't need homicidal ideation here, gentlemen." He seemed perturbed enough by the direction of the discussion.
"What we do need is a rotating pair of watches here and on the bridge. Ideally at least two at a time there."
"Gentleman, my apologies for intruding but.." The Favian unformed officer entered having returned from the machine gun he was operating now the threat from Red forces had reduced.
"Before I became a diplomat,” Hamelin continued, “I was an officer, and ships live on order like we need blood in our hearts. Disorder is infectious and devastating." He agrees with little he had gained, no ship would last long without a chain of command however loose, ad-hoc, and multinational it may be. They needed to pull together to survive. "We need a crew, however basic."
"Establishing watches and command is a start," Volodar said, "but what of contingencies? We need to agree on what we shall do if avarice doesn't convince certain elements to follow the girl's plan."
“Lashes and solitary always worked for us.” Aden piped up. “Mountains were always barebones so we had to keep the discipline somehow.”
"Do these things even have a Brig?" Hamelin asked. "In reactivated, old Favian ships, marines slept between officers and crew, we discreetly locate our beds near the bridge and armoury, cite so we can get ro action faster, in case of the reds? We can keep an eye and ear close without open spying." He proposed to the group.
Yuri shook his head "No, but we can lock up a room if needed. Again, our manning is about as light as it can be, there will be long watches until we can refresh the crew." He considered the Favian's words "Aye, going to need to take up posts nearby. I can take a double watch on the bridge for now, I need to get the telegraph running anyways."
"Just like training, anyone good with a coffee pot?" Hamelin asked, taking the fact without argument, long shifts where something they would have to get used to and a decent coffee man or woman would make it much easier. "I will see what the navigation station is like if you agree. I was a gunner and I am rusty, but I was trained in astral and chart based plotting."
"I'm sorry to say I'm as useful as a-" He stops himself mid-sentence as he remembers the commissioned officers in the room and decides to abandon his humorous idiom. "...I'm not going to be much help on the mechanical side of things; I learned how to fix people, not airships. I can see about using another spare room as a makeshift medical bay just in case, god forbid, we end up with wounded that need treating."
“Guess I’ll go wait on the bridge in case I need to shoot something.” Aden plucked his rifle from the ground and slung the sniper across his back.
"Your rifle should stay here," Volodar took a surprisingly diplomatic tone. "If we are not to disarm the civilians forcefully, we should set the example." He shifted to a more dry tone as he continued. "In quarters like these, a knife or pistol are the practical choice, so there is little reason to feel disarmed."
"...He has a point. We've got to give a little to get a little so putting away the long-guns might make the others do the same, or at least make them less likely to grab for them straight away." Urses nodded to Volodar at his suggestion before glancing down at his own rifle, resting on the wall next to him. He did not seem eager to leave the rifle.
"Medics are useful, if you want work, I'm sure we will have no shortage of duties." Hamelin said approvingly. "Keep to personal arms, if you need a pistol, gear up. I’ll promote you if you want it to be official, services be damned. We need to be careful, we need to build trust and show we are professionals. We are of mixed nations but we need a unified front and build good faith."
"We are, however, all friends here," Arkadios put in, "Perhaps it would also be worthwhile to sound some of the civilians out. Some may be less prone to wanting to steal this ship and abscond to another continent."
“I earned this rifle,” Adan replied to Volodar. “ You’ll forgive me if I don’t want to leave it behind on a ship that is rather unsteady in its command.” Aden made no move to unsling his rifle, though he patted his holster to show the pistol was still there.
"As you wish, young man." Volodar replied as he began removing his pistols from his brace. He turned his attention to Arkadios as he checked the chambers one by one. "It should not be difficult to pull enough civilians away from the Ardellian. There are certainly enough Inburians and Calarians here that will not wish to leave the continent. Keeping the noble girl in check is likely more important.
So," Volodar continued with a shrug, "I suppose the next order of business is leadership?"
The young lieutenant, the highest ranking member of the Air Service currently aboard," Volodar gestured to Yuri. "By regulation, he would be acting Captain, but Captain Arkadios is many years his senior. My suggestion is to disregard protocol in the name of expediency, if the young lieutenant does not dissent."
"I am happy to take on that role though I would require the advice and assistance of those more qualified to operate the vessel," Arkadios nodded to Yuri.
Yuri spoke with a sharpness he didn't have before, "No, no I don't dissent. Circumstances make the captain's experience more valuable by my appraisal." He gave a firm nod to Arkadios.
"Ah well, in that case, airman, let's do it." Arkadios agreed.
"Do you mind if we propose to title our commander,” Hamelin interjected, “Air Captain and the like. To make it clear to those who have not served, Captain is rank and title. Or we adopt the titles of our roles."
Arkadios gave that a moment's thought before shaking his head, "A reasonable idea, but I'm hoping we'll be in Grendel before too long and I'd rather not explain why I took a title that isn't mine. Custospada is perhaps seven hours away if we maintain a good speed. We take some time loading up, perhaps a day, then eight hours to Grendell? Give or take. We won't be on this ship for all that long," he said confidently, "I think we just tell the civilians who is in charge."
“Bridge protocol is to refer to role to avoid confusion." Yuri gave more rotely to the Favian, who in turn replied with a nod.
“Very well then,” Volodar said, and he seemed to smile for the first time in this meeting. “I suppose we can call this meeting adjourned then? I shall take the quarter closest to this armory for now. I believe our officers should make their way to the bridge and assume their posts.”
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